Panthers' defense reverting to old ways is key for a turnaround taken on the South Side (Pitt)

PITT ATHLETICS

Shayne Simon makes a play during Saturday's game against Louisville at Acrisure Stadium.

The foundation of any good Pat Narduzzi team is built upon his defense.

Throughout his tenure as Pitt's coach, Narduzzi has funneled players into the NFL and, over recent memory, has developed one of the best pass-rushing programs in all of Football Bowl Subdivision. There is a reason why the Panthers built a competitive roster that made their way into the 2018 ACC Championship Game before finally winning it in 2021 largely thanks to the growth and development of Kenny Pickett.

But, for as excellent as Pickett was in that Heisman Trophy-contending season, he still had a great defense to lean on. Pitt had the top rushing defense in the ACC, it was fourth in the conference in scoring defense and fifth in total defense, and it led the conference in sacks, interceptions, and interceptions returned for touchdowns in 2021.

Christian Veilleux is no Pickett for these 2023 Panthers, but he played well enough to allow for the Panthers to down No. 14 Louisville by 17 points Saturday.

The real stars of the show were the ones lining up for Narduzzi on defense.

It is the same logic that suggests this: If Pitt is going to achieve bowl eligibility after a 1-4 start, that defense has to be the reason for it.

"It's everybody together," Narduzzi said Monday. "The D-line can do a great job attacking. If the linebackers don't fit it right and fit it physical -- I've been emphasizing just being more physical at the linebacker position, just coming down and blowing people up and creating a wall at the line of scrimmage. We did a nice job on that (Saturday). It wasn't just one guy, it wasn't just Dayon (Hayes) who did a nice job to start it off with, but the backers fitting off of them, fitting where you need to be and not running behind each other, fitting -- I think it all comes together when you do it that way. But it's got to be like that all the time."

Pitt allowed 444 yards of total offense to the Cardinals, but a shutout in the second half was sparked by a dominant third quarter that resulted in two interceptions -- including M.J. Devonshire's 86-yard return for a touchdown -- to go with a punt and a turnover on downs. The Cardinals padded their final drive of the game with 66 yards on eight plays but turned the ball over on downs for the third consecutive time and the fourth overall time in the game.

The Panthers' two interceptions came in the red zone, and Pitt scored seven points off of the three turnovers they created. The first of two C'Bo Flemister rushing touchdowns came off of a strip sack and fumble recovery by Samuel Okunlola, who has been one of the few breakout players of this Panthers defense.

"Yeah, he's been getting better every day in practice," Narduzzi said of Okunlola. "Coach (Charlie) Partridge called it out just last week, like this guy is getting better like every week. And not just strip sacks and all that. It's more -- and again, that was on a screen, too. You look at that play and go, that was a strip sack on a screen. How many people get sacks on screens? But things like that happen when everybody else does their job. The other part of the D-line went to go get the screen. The linebackers added themselves. The quarterback had nowhere to go on a screen, couldn't throw it away, and Sammy got him. But again, that's a coverage sack on a screen that Sammy got. But Sammy keeps getting better every day, and yeah, we expect his role to continue to increase."

This is the calling card of so many successful Panthers defenses under Narduzzi. The defense holds is own, creates opportunities for the offense, and allows for the offense to do just enough to win the game.

This unit will have to be the major reason for why the Panthers win games going forward. There is still work to accomplish, but Saturday's game showed flashes of what has become expected of the defense.

"The difference in practice," Marquis Williams said. "Working extra hard, getting more film in with the guys, each position being here early -- 30 minutes to an hour earlier than needed to be -- knowing where we were and where we were sitting at and what type of feeling we were having going through that adversity. We knew it was an ugly feeling, and we knew that as a team we are. The toughness, the knowledge, the effort in this program we put in, we knew that it wouldn't last for long. We just put our head down, kept grinding. It's going to be adversity again, some way, somehow through the season. We've just got to continue to keep climbing that ladder each and every day."

The upcoming road for this defense is brutal. After Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., Pitt will have to oppose Sam Hartman and No. 15 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., and come home for a showdown against Jordan Travis and No. 4 Florida State. The next two games after that are winnable, and if all goes right by the time Pitt treks to Durham, N.C. to play the season finale at No. 16 Duke, they could be in position to play for a bowl bid.

But, they have to get past the Demon Deacons Saturday first.

"We just talk about 1-0," Shayne Simon said after Saturday's game. "You can't go on a winning streak without starting 1-0, so we said forget the score, forget the record, forget everything we've done so far and just focus on going 1-0. Beat the next opponent. Go out there and win each and every play each and every day and just have fun doing it. Got back to the basics, back to the grind."

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